World War II History Book Group
The World War II History Book Group will discuss All the Way to Berlin: A Paratrooper at War in Europe by James Megellas (Presidio Press, $27.00). In mid-1943 Megellas joined the 82d Airborne Division. His first taste of combat was in the rugged mountains outside Naples. In October 1943, Lt. Gen. Mark Clark requested that the division’s 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment for a daring new operation that would outflank the Nazis’ stubborn defensive lines and open the road to Rome. On 22 January 1944, Megellas and the 504th landed across the beach at Anzio. Following initial success, Fifth Army’s amphibious assault, Operation Shingle, bogged down in the face of heavy German counterattacks that threatened to drive the Allies into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Anzio turned into a fiasco, one of the bloodiest Allied operations of the war. Not until April were the remnants of the regiment withdrawn and shipped to England to recover, reorganize, refit, and train for their next mission. In September, Megellas parachuted into Holland with the 82d Airborne as part of another star-crossed mission, Operation Market Garden. Months of hard combat in Holland were followed by the Battle of the Bulge, and the long hard road across Germany to Berlin.
- Street:
- 8702 Pacific St
- City:
- Omaha ,
- Province:
- Nebraska
- Postal Code:
- 68114
- Country:
- United States
